It is well known that creditors, utility companies, and other such entities periodically send statements through the mail in order to notify the debtor, customer, or otherwise of an amount due. The statements may be printed by high impact printers, in which case the form may be of the continuous feed type with internally positioned carbon paper, or the statement may be printed otherwise and stuffed into an envelope. In either case, it is well known that a return envelope is typically enclosed along with the statement in which the statement is to be returned.
The return envelope is typically imprinted with the address of the original sender, or it may define a window through which a portion of the statement may be viewed. That portion of the statement visible through the window will normally have the address printed thereon. The address, whether on the statement or on the envelope, may include not only the typed alpha-numeric address, but may also include a bar-code equivalent of a portion of the address sufficient for optical character readers such as those utilized by the United States Postal Service for more efficient mail handling. When not included on the address portion of an envelope by the sender, a bar-code is printed on the envelope either by manual operator control, or by optical character recognition equipment.
It is well known that when such a statement is received, the outer envelope is typically removed and discarded. A goal of many people today is to reduce the amount of waste produced. It is well known that the number of envelopes thrown away in instances such as that described is numerous. In consideration of the goal to reduce waste, it is therefore desirable to reduce the amount of envelopes used and thrown away.
Many marketing companies utilize mail such as monthly statements from power and phone companies to its fullest advantage by stuffing the envelopes with advertisements. This practice is typically not accomplished with mailings which are printed on continuous forms. Therefore it is profitable to use the envelopes in which the statement, reply envelope, and any other selected material may be inserted as selected.
Other envelopes have been produced to serve various functions. Typical of the art are those devices disclosed in the following U S. Patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor Issue Date ______________________________________ 174,940 H. E. Brown Mar. 21, 1876 1,335,814 J. C. Blue Apr. 6, 1920 1,371,670 R. Dority, et al. Mar. 15, 1921 1,401,324 R. Dority, et al. Dec. 27, 1921 2,383,652 C. A. Holmblad, et al. Aug. 28, 1945 3,111,257 J. R. Peach Nov. 19, 1963 ______________________________________
The envelope disclosed by Brown in the '940 patent includes an extra back on which the intended recipient's address is printed. A corner is cut away from the extra back to reveal the postage stamp which is cancelled. In the event the mail is unclaimed, the extra back is removed to reveal the sender's address so that the mail may be returned. The cancelled postage is not removed, but is intentionally left in place as proof of postage such that the envelope may be returned.
The '814 patent issued to Blue discloses an envelope that may be readily opened by the postal inspector without destruction of the envelope. Such an envelope would not be of useful value today as such mail is required to be as completely sealed as possible in order to prevent tampering and further as evidence of any such tampering.
The '670 patent issued to Dority discloses an envelope of a size to receive a return envelope and a statement. The outer envelope defines a window through which the addressee's name appears as it is typed on the statement. This is the arrangement that is now trying to be avoided as it demands the disposal of the outer envelope when the statement is received.
The '324 patent issued to Dority discloses an envelope on which the statement is printed and then which is used as a return envelope. As in the '670 patent issued to Dority, the return envelope is inserted into an outer envelope which is disposed of on receipt.
Holmblad, in the '652 patent, discloses an envelope and insert which have registered openings through which a sealing strip may be received. Postage may be affixed to the sealing strip. When the sealing strip is removed, the insert may be removed, refolded, and reinserted for return mailing. There are no provisions for completely sealing the contents of the envelope, nor for the placement of selected advertisements within the envelope.
The envelope disclosed by Peach in the '257 patent is used for both delivery of a statement and return of payment. However, there are no provisions for the removal of any printing on the exterior of the envelope. Provision is made only for the hiding of material along the top edge of the envelope including the original return address and postage. Anything outside the top area, such as a printed bar code or other information, would not be removed or hidden, and would thus render the envelope unusable for return mail.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for reusing an envelope which has been delivered with a statement which must be answered through the post.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a reusable envelope which provides a means for removing any indicia pertinent only to the original mailing of the envelope, including the cancelled postage and the original recipient's address, including any associated bar code, printed on the face of the envelope.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide such an envelope which creates a minimal amount of waste product during and after use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an envelope which may be used to insert advertisement within as selected by the sender of the envelope.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a means for substantially sealing the contents within the envelope during both the original and return mailings.